Drugmakers Pay $123 Million to Resolve U.S. Charity Kickback Probe
April 4th, 2019Via: Reuters:
Three drugmakers will pay $122.6 million to resolve claims they used charities that help cover Medicare patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs as a way to pay kickbacks aimed at encouraging the use of their medications, including some expensive ones.
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday said Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc, Lundbeck and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc had become the latest companies to settle claims stemming from an industry-wide probe of drugmakers’ financial support of patient assistance charities.
The government has alleged in earlier settlements that drugmakers used such charities as a means to improperly pay the copay obligations of Medicare patients using their drugs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
The investigation came amid growing attention to skyrocketing U.S. drug prices. Copays are meant to serve in part as a check on healthcare expenses by exposing patients to some of a drug’s cost and make them price-sensitive.
